Hanoi – The puppet master
Something that we had to do, apparently, in Hanoi, was to go and see the water puppets. To be honest, I was fairly ambivalent about it; it sounded more of a children’s thing. Not that this has ever stopped me, in the past, being a big fan of Disney musicals or fishfingers, chips and peas, but water puppets? Not really my thing. Still, you know the saying – when in Hanoi, go see Uncle Ho, drink Bia Hoi, see water puppets. Tick, tick, ok, I’ll go.
Rich, Doireann and I bought tickets (in the cheap seats) for the 8 o’clock show, so after a day of shopping and lazy DVD watching (we were lazy, not the DVDs, although to be frank, “The Break Up” with J-An and Vince Whatshisname was lazy and dumb and not worth spending your pennies on at the cinema), we met up for a quick drink before we headed in. Rich was suffering at this point, having caught conjunctivitis off Dean, who in turn had caught it off a Spanish girl in Halong Bay. We were therefore being really paranoid and not letting him touch anything like our glasses. With my track record so far on this trip, I wouldn’t put it past myself to catch anything like that. So far though (touching every single wooden thing in sight), no sign. I was paranoid for a few days, though, and everytime I had an itchy eye, I would anxiously examine my face in a mirror for about half an hour.
I was put in a good mood instantly by the availability of free stuff. You know how happy that makes me! We got a free fan. Not entirely sure why, as the theatre was airconditioned, but still, you didn’t hear me complain, no siree. We managed to avoid paying the apparently voluntary extra money to take photos (we snapped away inside, though, with no adverse effects), so I was even happier.
When we arrived, the music was just starting. The music in a water puppet show is just as important as the puppetry, serving as a narrative. We were also treated to a display of lovely musicianship from a beautiful young woman playing one of Vietnam’s traditional instruments. Then the puppets started.
They are operated from behind a screen by puppeteers who have to train for up to three years. Not surprising, when you see it, either – the puppets are on long poles, or platforms attached to long poles, and when you see them move, you completely forget that there are people working them from a considerable distance away. They depict typically rural scenes, farming, fishing, boat races and so on, and some of the scenes – especially those involving animals, such as fish, are so swiftly and skilfully done that it’s hard to believe that it’s not a real fish they have in the water.
I was even glad that we got the cheap seats, as they are further back and we got a good overall view of the set. It was amazing, as well, to see the captivated faces of the children around us – and I’m sure that, if they had looked around at the right place, they’d have seen us looking pretty captivated, as well. If you’re ever at a loose end in Hanoi, go and see them – it’s definitely not just for the kids.
Tags: Travel, Vietnam
Suzanne
Sounds as good as The Sound of Music’s Lonely Goatherd.
Love & miss you lots
Mum